Humans of Telecom

“Telecom is in my DNA. My mother was a switchboard operator. I grew up running around server racks as a kid!” — Shannon Donohue, Chief Technology Officer at Somos, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From running around server racks as a child in her mother’s central office... to joining a 16-person startup called CallFire straight out of UCLA... to being asked by Gina Perini to become the CTO of...

“I’ve never stopped learning from the people around me. They taught me about business, about leadership - and about life. And I carry all of it with me!” — Nuria Pallarés, Procurement Manager at Sinch, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a chemistry degree she never planned to use... to stumbling into a telecom sales interview on a whim... to becoming a professional singer with two bands, re...

“My father wanted me to be a telecom engineer. I hated the idea. I went into economics instead. And 25 years later - here I am in telecom anyway!” — Ricardo Martins, VP Global Sales Messaging at iBASIS, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a student who refused to study telecom engineering like his father wanted... to negotiating his exam grade just enough to earn an Erasmus year in Rome... t...

"First come the spikes. Then you see the kindness. Because kindness shown too early is sometimes mistaken for weakness!" — Natalia Matviychuk, Head of Wholesale at GlobaHub AG, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a 16-year-old exchange student in the United States... to working night shifts at a telecom company to keep her English alive... to becoming one of the most recognisable f...

"Treat everybody the same. The cleaner. The CEO. Your job title or bank balance doesn't make you more valuable than anyone else!" — Andrew Ward, Sales Director at NGN Corp, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a council estate in Coventry... to dreadlocks that earned him the nickname 'Bob'... to becoming one of the most beloved faces in global messaging, Bob's journe...

"Starting from scratch and being like a student at the age of 37 isn't easy... But I realized that if I didn't do it now, I will never have enough courage to do it!" — Alisa Dzic, Head of SMS Department at VX Telecom, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From the colorful world of television in Moldova... to cold-calling a telecom company for a sales role they weren't even ad...

"Founding GTC with Jose Garcia was the best professional decision of my life! Every client gives me a new lens through which to see this industry!" — Giovanni Benini, Co-Founder at GTC, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From dreaming of becoming the next Einstein in Bologna... to building SIP prototypes at Siemens in the year 2000... to co-founding one of the most respected consulting...

"I bring a little bit of that wildness into my meetings and my conferences! Our industry needs it!" — Anna Potapova, Head of Global Strategic Partnerships at AB Handshake, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a mountain hostel in the middle of nowhere… sitting on the floor with a laptop on her pillow… choosing between her dream FMCG company and a telecom startup she had known for ju...

"PTC has been around for over four decades, and most people in the local community had no idea what we were doing... That was my first big lesson!" — Brian Moon, CEO at Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC), in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From the island of Guam to the world's biggest tech event stage... from leading biz dev at CES to leading a nearly 50-year-old telecom council in Honolu...

"Once you overcome one challenge, you know you can face the next one. That's when I stopped being afraid!" — Nancy Aboushakra, Head of Messaging & Digital Sales at Bayobab, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a ten-year-old girl in Lebanon who heard that engineering is for men… to building messaging businesses from scratch across three companies… to closing landmark deals w...

"We didn't start a company and decide to give back. We decided to give back – and so we started a company!" – Wade & Koddi Dunn, Co-Founders of Love Mobile, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal A single mom. A single dad. A nine-hour online conversation that lasted until sunrise Eighteen years of marriage, seven children, two companies, and one powerful idea – What if your monthl...

“Life is an Adventure. Jump out of a Plane. Live your Ikigai. Find your Happy Place!” — Veni Folta, Chief Happiness Officer at The Inspired Action Group, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From Portuguese Macau to British Hong Kong to the United States… from a Category 5 hurricane that wiped out her dream job in a single day… to nearly three decades in telecom, two of them in international roami...

"I would tell my younger self – stop playing it safe. Be braver. Be bolder. And believe, really believe, that you are capable of more than you think!" – Mike Mills, Managing Director (Service Providers) at Gamma, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From handing out free internet CDs at a PC World store in the north of England… to discovering the company that built all the infrastructure...

"I have never once walked into a room and thought — I wonder if I belong here. And I want every woman in this industry to feel exactly the same way!" — Stephanie Lashley, VP Messaging Strategic Alliances & Infrastructure at Bandwidth, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a mother who came home and talked about telecom at the dinner table… to a young girl who grew up fascinated b...

"I stumbled into sales. I stumbled into Facebook. I stumbled into Singapore and met my wife. And somehow, every stumble took me somewhere better!" — Deepesh Trivedi, CEO at UIB.ai, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a small town in North London called Watford… to employee number 20 at Facebook's London office… to the front row of WhatsApp's global expansion… to now leading...

"I've worked in telecom, in modeling, in hairdressing. Every single one taught me the same thing — show up, stay calm, and finish the job!" — Natalia Derkach, Director of Carrier Relations & Sales at Nuetech Stack, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From the snow-covered streets of Novosibirsk, Siberia… to the neon-lit corridors of Seoul, South Korea… to the fast-moving world o...

"I want to learn early to slow down and enjoy the journey. Sometimes we spend many years focused on moving forward — and only later do you realize how important it is to pause, appreciate the process, and enjoy the moment." — Santiago Marquez, CEO at Wholesale Congress Series, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From selling ad space in a telecom magazine… to attending his first wholesa...

"I consider myself an artist! And early in my career, I realized — art and strategy have a lot in common. Both are about creativity, solving problems, conveying a vision, and making something interesting... or even beautiful!" — Gina Perini, Chair of the Board and CEO at SOMOS, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal What happens when a sharp intellectual property lawyer… gets handed a &quo...

“Sometimes your greatest journey begins with no plan — just curiosity, courage, and a leap of faith.” — Andrey Anikin, CEO at Alaris Labs, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal What happens when a linguist… becomes a schoolteacher… accidentally lands in technical support… and ends up building one of the most trusted telecom software companies in the world? You get a story like no other! In this epi...

“I didn’t chase telecom out of passion — I chased it out of necessity... But somehow, telecom became the nicest devil I could have sold my soul to!” ✨ — Polina Gardo, Roaming Wholesale Manager at Rakuten Mobile, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From studying analytical philosophy, logic, and existential risks… To navigating roaming wholesale at Rakuten Mobile… To finding grounding through nat...

“Learn to be a great teammate! I’ve played on teams where I was the best, and teams where I clearly wasn’t — and I learned a lot from both!” 🌍 — Craig Lennon, Global Partnerships Lead at Google, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From growing up on the Jersey Shore surrounded by the telecom greats… To shaping the way phone numbers are administered in the U.S.… To leading Google’s global partner...

"I want to live to 150, and make every year to count — full of passion, gratitude, and laughter!” ❤️ — Carla Oliveira, Head of Sales (Wholesale) at Go4Mobility, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From being born in Angola and raised in Portugal… To finding her calling in telecom — first in retail, then wholesale… From interning at Portugal Telecom to leading global sales at Go4Mobility… To...

“Scale sensibly to sustain — that’s the only way to build a lasting company!” 🚀 — Rajdip Gupta, Founder & Managing Director at Route Mobile Limited, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From bootstrapping Route Mobile in 2004 with just $2,000 and a second-hand PC… To building a $1.2 billion publicly listed global 'proficorn' (profitable unicorn) that is proudly 'Made in India, Bui...

“Even when life strips you of everything familiar, you still carry the power to rise again!” 🌍 — Vimal Odedra, Founder & Director at LiYF Limited, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From being born in Uganda and forced to flee as a child during Idi Amin’s expulsion… To starting over in England with nothing but resilience and hope… From building an IT career at British American Tobacco… To v...

"My wow moment hasn’t happened yet — and that’s what keeps me moving!" 🌟 — Mila Budylo, Chief Commercial Officer at BSG, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From lecturing in linguistics to leading one of the industry’s most prominent A2P hubs… From juggling three jobs in Ukraine just to make ends meet… To stepping — almost by accident — into telecom, and never looking back… This is th...